Militants in Aleppo Expected to End Resistance Soon

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the situation in eastern Aleppo may be resolved in two to three days.

The Russian Reconciliation Center reported earlier that about 6,000 civilians have been evacuated from militant-controlled areas in the last 24 hours.

“I hope that the situation in Aleppo will be resolved in two to three days. [Russia] has created humanitarian corridors [in Aleppo] that have been and are being used by tens of thousands of civilians,” he said.

Lavrov noted that guarantees of safety have been given to militants who voluntarily lay down their arms and corridors have also been organized for them to safely leave the city, Russia Today reported.

The Russian foreign minister was speaking before participants of the annual Dialogue for the Future Research and Education Program.

At the same time, Lavrov stressed that the crisis can only be solved by political means.

“This concerns Syria, this concerns Libya, Yemen, Iraq,” he said, adding “what is happening in these countries, especially in Iraq–the attempt to take the city of Mosul–is no less dramatic.

“No one in Iraq, Libya, or Yemen demands a ceasefire, or a week or two of complete ‘silence’, before negotiations. But in Syria, they call for it.” According to Lavrov, demands for such a “silence” are being made simply so that the militants can “take a breath” and be resupplied with new weapons and ammunition.

“It happened in Palmyra. When the highly promoted operation to free Mosul was stopped, the city wasn’t encircled and one corridor was left for the bandits—the Islamic State fighters who, safe and sound, exited through it and headed to Palmyra, getting a signal that Mosul would not be captured now.”